//Ed. note: As Ebüzziya Tevfik's story concludes,
we are left with some loose ends because the
entirety of his story is not available. In any event,
his description of his exile and arrest are unique
sources of information about the inner workings
of the Ottoman regime's suppression of dissent.
Ebüzziya Tevfik certainly made his mark, despite
the continuous harassment he faced. There is even
a street in Bakırköy, the old Makriköy, named for
him, at lower left on this 1934 map below.//
Ibrikdar
Kâmil Bey & His Three Odd Prisoners
Today, Monday, is the seventh day since my
arrest and my arrival at the
Minister’s residence. After lunch, we moved to the upstairs room
for
coffee. At that moment, a vehicle
making a lot of noise arrived at the
front door and we saw that Ibrikdar Kâmil
Bey had brought three
mustachioed men in their 30s or 40s with him. After they came into
the room where we were,
Kâmil Bey took the Minister into another
room and closed the door.
Of the three men, the younger-looking one
appeared to be quite
indifferent to his situation, whereas the ashen faces of
the other two
betrayed their dismay. The
servants offered them all cigarettes and the
two older men took them but the
younger fellow declared “Thanks, but
I only use Bafra tobacco.” He then took a cigarette from his pocket and
lit it. This younger fellow was wearing
a “redingot” ((frock coat)) and
the others wore a more old-fashioned style of
frock coat. He sat with
his legs crossed
and had a devil-may-care air about him.
The others,
though, gave every indication of being “Saray Ağasi” ((Palace eunuchs)),
looking more downhearted
and dispirited than courteous and well-
behaved.
I surveyed them carefully from my spot on
the opposite couch, as the
younger man lit up another cigarette. At that moment, the Minister
opened the door
and stuck his head out to summon Hüseyin Hüsnü
Efendi into the room, after
which the door was closed again. Myself
and Hüseyin Daim Bey remained in the room with the three men.
Hüseyin Daim Bey came over to me and said
that the two older fellows
were from Reşad Efendi’s office but that he did not
recognize the
younger man. He guessed
that the three of them had gotten themselves
into trouble. In response, I said that it was more likely
that their bosses
at the Mabeyin wanted to strike fear into their hearts.
Hüseyin Daim was a sharp young man and ever since my arrest
he had
acted quite respectfully and kindly toward me. He knew that I considered
things carefully
and he said “I have no doubt that you are correct.” Nine
o’clock came and then we noted that the
Minister and the others had been
in that room for over an hour, indicating that
the matter at hand was of
some importance to them. At this point, the younger man got up and
began pacing back and forth. It was
evident from his attitude, his way
of walking
and his clothes, especially his polished boots with designs
on the
sides, that he was not a Palace staff member.
I wondered who
he might be!
At last, Ibrikdar Kâmil Bey came out and
left without even glancing at
those he had brought with him. Then, Hüseyin
Hüsnü Efendi emerged
from the room to take the three men into the room where my
papers had
been examined. The Minister
then summoned me and Hüseyin Daim
Bey to his room and, after apologizing for
keeping us waiting, explained
that “these three fellows will remain here for a
few days I think. They
are accused of
some very significant things. In any
event, I only have so
much room here and the order is that they can have no
contact with other
people. Consequently,
I’m sending you to the Ministry, where you can
stay in my office. Adjacent to it is another room with a bed,
where you
can sleep. Go there now with Hüseyin
Daim Bey. I’ll have three or four
police
officers keep an eye out for you and I’ll have your morning and
evening meals
sent from here.”
To Hüseyin Daim Bey the Minister said: “Get
a hold of Naci Efendi at
the Edirne Gate, Mehmed Ali Efendi in investigations,
Ismail Efendi at
Samatya and Mehmed Bey and have them look after Tevfik Bey, two at
a time each
night while he is there.” Adressing me
once again, Nazım
Paşa told me that “you have my word that as soon as responses
to the
letters sent to London arrive, you will be able to return to your home
right
away. I will instruct Hüseyin Efendi and
tomorrow your
questioning will focus on the matter of the people from Cebil-i Lübnan.”
I, of course, acknowledged his instructions
and bid him farewell. Then
together with
Hüseyin Daim Bey, we boarded a cart and set off for the
Ministry of Public
Security.
Since the late Kâmil Bey’s departure from
duty as Minister, I had not
set foot in this office. At that time, I had to get the Ministry of
Public
Security to lift the restriction on my passport prior to my departure
for
Europe. The office was like a like a
big store room then, lacking any
sort of tidiness and cleanliness. Now, though, it was in better condition
than
the office of any other Minister.
NOTE:
For us, Ebüziyya Tevfik’s narrative ends here, since
the
remainder of the story is unavailable.
As mentioned earlier, he was
arrested multiple times between 1894 and
1900, when another “journal”
accusation sent him into exile in Konya until
1908. That year Ebüzziya
Tevfik returned
to Istanbul after the “Meşrutiyet” (restoration of
constitutional
government.) He began publishing the Yeni Tasvir-i Efkâr
newspaper in May 1909 and it was shut down many times so Ebüzziya
Tevfik
changed the name to keep on publishing.
From time to time he
was jailed, the last time being before the CUP coup
in January 1913.
The new government
freed Ebüzziya Tevfik but the next day, 27 January
1913, he died on the Kadikoy
ferry while en route to his home.
(Biographical
information obtained from: “Turkiye Diyanet Vakfi Islam
Ansiklopedisi”)
//END of PART TWO, section eleven/FINAL//
